Just Another Year
by lavieenjose
Summary: Lucas, Angelina, Mason, Leah, Louis, Lucy, Noah and Audrey have been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts. Now in their sixth, their relationships with other people and with each other are going to be tested like never before. Not focused on the lives of the next-gen Potter and Weasley kids (except Louis and Lucy), but set in the same time as when they are at Hogwarts.
1. Aboard the Hogwarts Express

**So this is something I originally posted about exactly two years ago - and decided to bring back to life with some much needed edits and changes in character about three hours ago. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it!**

* * *

 **ABOARD THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS**

11 year olds Audrey Harper and Angelina Davison were walking the length of the fifth carriage of the Hogwarts Express, holding hands and nervously trying to avoid the intimidating throngs of older boys and girls. Finally finding an empty compartment at the end of the corridor, they quickly slid the door open and flung themselves and their luggage onto the seats.

"We need to put the bags on the rack, I think," Audrey said in her clear voice, pointing up at the steel shelves in the compartment.

"I suppose you'll need a hand then," a grinning blonde boy about their age had slipped into the compartment, and a copper haired girl followed behind him.

Never one to take kindly to anyone suggesting she couldn't do something on her own, Audrey replied icily: "I think I can handle a couple bags, thanks."

"What Louis means is, can we sit here? Everywhere else is full," the girl looked at them imploringly.

After sizing her up and exchanging a quick look with Angelina, Audrey beckoned the girl in. "Not him, though," she added to the boy.

"Allergic to good looking males?" he grinned at her.

"Just big headed ones," Audrey said sweetly, sitting down next to Angelina.

"Good for me that I've quite a normal sized head then. Louis Weasley," he smiled good naturedly and stuck his hand out to the girls. "I don't bite, I swear."

Angelina shook it and introduced herself, shooting her sister a look. Audrey rolled her eyes and turned to the girl. "You are…?"

"Lucy. Weasley. We're cousins."

"So are we! With different last names though. Audrey Harper," she smiled at the girl, and noticing the boy's raised eyebrows, shot him a questioning look.

"I took you for twins," he explained.

And it was easy to see why. Although Angelina was quite chubby and Audrey was almost only skin and bones, with their matching shoulder length chestnut hair, peachy skin, and almost identical cerulean blue eyes (Audrey wore glasses), the family resemblance was easy enough to be mistaken for that of twins.

Five years later, of course, their differences were more pronounced. Where their bodies had grown to be quite similar - slender, and of the same height, although Audrey's was more athletic - their faces were much easier to tell apart, though Audrey had taken to wearing lenses. Her skin was paler, and Angelina's more peachy and bright. Angelina's face was rounder, Audrey's more angular. Audrey's eyes were bigger, Angelina's were bluer. And though Angelina's hair had darkened it had maintained it's naturally straight quality, while Audrey's had transformed over the years into soft curls that she was quite proud of.

And that's what Lucy Weasley was thinking about in her tiny corner of the seat. Tiny, because what had started as a friend group of four had turned into eight before the end of their first year, and the older they'd all gotten, the more cramped sharing a compartment had become. "Shove _off,_ Louis!" she pushed at her cousin, whose only response was laughter.

"Yeah, quit being an ass, Louis," Audrey pulled him off a relieved Lucy and fit herself neatly where he'd been sprawled moments ago, between his cousin and hers.

"If anyone here is an ass to people in their compartment, it's clearly you, Miss Harper, or do you not remember biting my head off in our first year?" Louis teased.

"I did _not_ bite your head off!" Audrey snapped immediately, turning to her sister for support.

"You kind of did, actually," Angelina giggled, looking up from the book she was doodling in.

"Yeah you were being all defensive for nothing, like you are now," Lucy laughed.

"Traitors." Audrey narrowed her eyes at them. "Should've left you to the mercy of this ass." She sat back in her seat, folding her arms and glaring at the three.

"Get over it, babe. We all know there's things of bigger consequence to discuss right now," the fourth girl in their compartment, Leah Sterling, grinned mischievously from where she was sitting next to Angelina. She pulled her curly black hair into a bun, getting down to business.

All four girls, and three of the boys - Louis; Noah Bennet, a skinny boy with messy brown hair sitting comfortably at Louis' feet; and the large, broad shouldered Mason Goldstein, who was leaning against the compartment door - all turned to look at the fourth boy, Lucas Hartman, the sandy haired American leaning lazily next to Louis.

"Right," he cleared his throat. "So the party is set to happen in an empty charms classroom on the third floor, east corridor. There will be mostly 7th years in attendance -"

"Like your brother," Lucy interjected.

"And yours!" Audrey winked at Lucy, who shuddered in revulsion.

"First of all, he's my cousin -"

"And second of all, let him finish," Mason held up a hand to silence the two and nodded at Lucas.

"Right. So mostly 7th years in attendance, and a few select 6th years -"

"Like us," Angelina nodded.

"And Reed and Wood, I'll bet," Louis noted.

"And Avery," added Mason.

"And Tyler," Noah said, speaking of his roommate.

"Right. All of them. And a few others," Lucas confirmed. "We should all be ready to leave our respective dormitories by 11 at the latest."

"Hear that, Angelina? 11 at the _latest,_ " Mason teased.

"I take full responsibility of her," Lucas declared, nodding at his house mate. Her pout turned into an appreciative smile, and she went back to doodling in her book.

"Excellent. So Noah and I will meet you on our way up from the Slytherin common room?" Audrey looked at Mason, then Leah, for confirmation.

"Near the kitchens," Leah nodded.

"As always," Mason added.

"And Ange and I will meet you on our way down from Gryffindor tower?" Lucas asked the Weasley's, who nodded simultaneously.

"So now that all of that's settled, it's about time for the prefect meeting, and we need to get changed. Boys, if you'll leave the room," Leah raised her eyebrows at the lot of them. After a few half hearted murmurs of complaint (' _we need to change for the meeting too you know'/'why don't_ you _girls ever look for another compartment and leave_ us _?'_ ) the boys were all gone, and the girls quickly changed into their robes.

"I still can't believe all eight of us are prefects," Angelina mused out loud, sliding open the compartment door.

" _I_ still can't believe all eight of us try to share a compartment for the whole journey!" Lucy exclaimed.

"We'll figure something out for the next time, buddy. Extension charm, maybe," Leah consoled her friend as she filed out of the compartment behind Angelina and Audrey.

"You always say that," Lucy muttered, following her out, closing the door behind her.

* * *

The prefect's compartment was in the front carriage, near the conductor, and was much, _much_ roomier than any other compartment. So it was no trouble for the eight friends, and the eight 5th year prefects, and the six 7th year prefects and the Head Boy and Head Girl to fit comfortably inside for their first meeting of the year. James Potter and Jenna Carstairs, the new Heads, sorted out the schedule for rounds and briefed the prefects on their duties, and a short but fruitful twenty minutes later everybody stood up to file out of the compartment. Noah turned around to pull Audrey out, who had been too busy flirting with Laim Baker - a 7th year Hufflepuff prefect - to realise that all her friends had left, but they were stopped by James Potter: "Can I talk to you for a minute, Harper?"

She rolled her eyes and turned around. "Certainly, _Potter_." She gestured for Noah to go ahead without her, and he irritably stepped out, banging the compartment door shut behind him.

"What was that about?" Leah poked Noah's arm.

"What was what about?" he reacted, sharply.

Before she could respond, Angelina appeared, Mason trailing behind her. "Where's my sister?"

"In a private meeting with Potter," Noah grumbled.

"What for?" Mason frowned.

"Merlin knows," Noah responded with sudden, deliberate nonchalance. He shot Leah a warning look, who, in turn, shot Angelina an amused look, who bit her lower lip with anxiety.

"Let's find the others," Angelina decided, and turned around to walk down the train. After a last look at the prefect's compartment and its drawn curtains, Noah followed.

* * *

Harry Prewett and Andrew Van de Kamp had a whole compartment to themselves, but the two 7th years were sharing one seat so that they could both have equally easy access to the abysmally large mound of candy between them. Their opened trunks were on the seat across from them, and they were competing to see who could fit more of the sweets in his bag. To make room for the food, the Gryffindor robes that they were supposed to change into before they reached Hogwarts had been extracted from the trunks and thrown on the floor - they were too focused on their present goal to care. So focused, in fact, that neither of them noticed the entry of Angelina, Leah, Noah, and Mason, until Mason gleefully leapt onto the pile of candy between them. At this unsurprising display of affection for sweets, Noah shook his head, Leah chuckled, and Angelina rolled her eyes. Andrew immediately pounced on Mason, easily overpowering his deceptively weak friend, causing Mason to pout and Harry to laugh, until the compartment door slid open once more to reveal Audrey, bringing all the commotion to a sudden halt.

"Hey, Audrey," Harry greeted her, his emerald eyes twinkling. Andrew nodded gruffly at her, one arm still locked around a struggling Mason.

"Hi Harry, Van de Kamp," she greeted the latter neutrally. Inspecting the scene and inferring exactly what had been happening, she turned to her friends: "I'm going to find another, _cleaner_ compartment, if anyone's interested." And with that she flounced away, followed immediately by Noah and Angelina. Leah waved them goodbye and found herself a spot between the open trunks.

Andrew let go of Mason (' _about time, you git'_ ) and sat down, seemingly deep in thought, running his hands through his spiky dark brown hair and eyebrows furrowed together above his slightly lighter brown eyes. But he was brought back to earth with a jolt when Mason pelted him with a succession of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Andrew quickly angled his head and successfully caught the next bean in his mouth - his triumph turned out to be short lived, however, when he bit into it.

"Bloody hell! Why'd it have to be a horrible one when I decided to catch it?" he complained, spitting it out the window.

"Because I was eating all the nice ones," Mason grinned over a now empty packet of beans.

"What flavour was it?" Leah laughed.

"Let me guess," Mason interrupted. "Spinach?"

"Look at his face. He looks traumatised. Spinach isn't nearly bad enough," Harry pointed out.

"What's worse than spinach?" Mason exclaimed.

"SO many possibilities. Just because you hate spinach, doesn't mean it's the worst flavour in the world, Mase," Leah argued. "Liver?"

"He could do worse than that. Tripe?" Harry guessed.

"Worse than any of you can imagine," Andrew spoke, his face grim. "Vomit."

His companions sat in stunned silence, then suddenly burst out laughing together. Andrew looked at them, unimpressed. They held back their laughter and quieted down for his sake, until Mason pretended to heave out the window, sending Leah into a renewed fit of giggles, which lead to Harry literally rolling on the floor at her feet. Andrew gave up on his dourness and playfully whacked the back of Harry's head with a nearby textbook. But before Harry could retaliate, the book seemed to come to life, and proceeded to fly around the compartment, slamming rapidly and violently against everyone and everything around it.

"What the fu- OW!" Leah yelped as she got hit by the book.

Mason was hopping around with agility that only he possessed, trying to dodge the book. Harry curled into a ball on the floor with his head between his knees, and Andrew sat with an expression of shock until the book flew and hit him right on the nose.

"What the _fuck_?" he exclaimed, raising his hand to cover his face.

The book was fiercely attacking the compartment door when Leah came to her senses: "Deletrius!" she cried, at the same moment that Mason cast "Expulso!"

But with a frantic change of direction, the book dodged both spells and swooped in Andrew's direction. He screamed in terror and stood up to avoid the book, but Harry and Leah had both swung back into action. They cried out together: "Arresto Momentum!" "Avifors!"

Fortunately for Andrew, the spells hit their target this time, as the book first slowed down, then transformed into a very tiny, very red, very angry, very confused looking bird. It zoomed out of their compartment (which had no door anymore) and into the compartment opposite theirs (which had lost its door as well) and straight past the group of third years in it (their eyes had widened into saucers) and finally flew out the window.

With a loud sigh of relief, Mason collapsed onto the floor. Harry took Leah's hand and pulled himself up. Her eyes were wide and dazed. Andrew looked ashen. "What the fuck -" he started.

"- was _that_?" Harry finished for him.

Leah had a different question. "Expulso? Get your shit together Mason! Your target is a _flying_ book and you choose to go with an _exploding_ curse?"

"It isn't that different from _disintegration_!" Mason pointed out.

"Yeah and what the hell was _Avifors_ , Sterling? You could have turned me into a bird! _A bird!_ " Andrew's face was still white.

"One thing's clear. I'm the smartest person on this train," Harry proclaimed cheerfully.

"Oh shut up, Prewett," Leah grumbled.

"What? You've got to agree, a spell to slow the book down was a genius move!" Harry argued.

"Maybe you should've done it earlier, then, instead of cowering on the floor like a baby!"

"Basic self defence!"

"Basic _cowardice_! And you claim to be in Gryffindor."

The two were standing among the mess of clothes and sweets on the floor, bickering, when the train screeched to a halt, throwing Harry onto Leah, who fell backwards into a trunk. Laughing, Harry helped her up, and the four of them turned to look outside the window. Hogsmeade Station had arrived.

Surveying the mess around them, Harry and Andrew were struck by the same thought at the exact same second: "Shit!" they exclaimed in unison, and whipped their wands out to repack their trunks.

Mason and Leah were tip toeing their way out of the clutter, a difficult task, which turned out to be even tougher for Leah when Harry decided that right then would be a good time to change into his Hogwarts robes. He took off his tshirt and revealed his torso - incredibly well built from years of Quidditch and muggle basketball, Leah deduced, then cursed herself for even getting onto that train of thought. She took Mason's hand (he had managed his way out already) and let him help her out of the maze of the boys' belongings. Without skipping a beat, she sprinted off towards their old compartment. Mason waved goodbye to his friends and hurried after her.

* * *

Mason and Leah soon reached the clearing where horseless carriages waited to take students to the castle. A trio of Slytherins boarded one of the last few and set off, leaving six carriages. They spotted their friends at the far end of the clearing and headed towards them. On getting closer, Leah also noticed her sister Elena, curly haired and hazel eyed like her, leaning against Lucas, who had his arm around her. They'd been together for about two years now. The two were talking to Angelina, who was sitting in a carriage already, her legs swinging outside. Audrey, Noah and Lucy were leaning against another carriage talking to Albus Potter and Rose Weasley, Lucy's cousins and her sister's fellow fifth years. Louis was standing with Andrew Prewett, Harry's brother and another fifth year, who was trying to teach Louis how to dribble a basketball. On catching sight of Mason, he waved and ran up to them.

"Hullo Mase, senior Sterling."

Leah rolled her eyes at his use of the nickname she'd gotten as a result of being his best friend's older sister. "Shut it, Prewett," she rolled her eyes at the boy. He was smiling wide, and his eyes were twinkling, like his brother's often did. ' _But Harry's are bright green. Andrew's are almost hazel,_ ' Leah noted mentally.

"Have you seen my brother?" Andrew inquired.

"Wha- wh- why would I have seen your brother?" Leah sputtered in response.

"Because the two of you were with him on the train? That's what Harper told me," he raised his eyebrows quizzically.

Leah realised that his initial question had been for Mason as well. "Right," she replied. _"Shit,"_ she thought.

"They should be on their way - there they are!" Mason pointed at two figures in the distance coming towards the clearing.

"So since most of us are here," Louis and the others appeared behind Andrew, "I suppose we should all get going?"

"Someone ought to stay back for the two idiots," Mason gestured at his friends in the distance.

"I'll wait," Andrew decided.

"We'll stay with you," Albus and Rose stepped forward.

"Right. Who's left?" Lucas looked around.

"I want Mason and Louis!" Angelina suddenly piped up.

"I'll go with them, too," Lucy declared.

"So that leaves the five of us, then," Audrey looked at Noah, Lucas, Elena and Leah. "Let's go."

The five waved goodbye to the remainder, got into a carriage, and took off.

Next, Lucy, Louis and Mason got into the carriage that Angelina was already in, leaving the three fifth years behind.

As soon as the carriage had sped up and gotten out of the clearing, Angelina turned to the others, her face grave. "I need to talk to all of you."

"Okay, then," Louis nodded. Everybody turned to her, curious.

Angelina breathed in deeply, "This is serious, okay? And for now, it doesn't leave the four of us." She looked around at their nodding heads, and continued. "I think Noah likes Audrey!"

Everybody looked confused. "Is that it?" Lucy inquired.

"What do you mean, is that _it_? This is huge!" Angelina exclaimed.

Mason and Louis looked amused, while Lucy looked puzzled.

"I'm serious! He fancies her!"

"So?" Louis asked.

"So do you know what that's going to do to our group dynamic?"

Mason laughed. "Everyone's had a thing for someone or the other in the group, Ange. It isn't a big deal."

"What?" she exclaimed. "When?"

The boys turned to Lucy. "You're the one with the memory," they grinned at her.

Lucy sighed. "Well, Noah liked Audrey in the first year. She liked Louis, I think -"

"No way. She liked me!" Mason interrupted.

"I'm practically her twin. It was Louis," Angelina confirmed. "Continue."

"Right. And you liked Lucas."

"Did not!" Angelina gasped.

"Did too!" the boys sang.

" _Anyway._ Second year, I liked Lucas -"

"Oh my god, how didn't I know this?" Angelina exclaimed.

"- and Lucas liked Leah -"

"That one I knew."

"- and Audrey liked Tyler -"

"Noah's roommate?" Mason asked.

"Yes but he doesn't count as part of the group," Angelina stated.

"Right. Then in third year Leah liked Mason -"

"Bollocks," Mason scoffed.

"- and Mason liked Audrey -"

"That's bullshit!" he said emphatically; everybody ignored him.

"- and that's it. Oh and Louis liked Ange for a bit in fourth."

" _Lucy!_ " Louis complained.

"Wait, you mean when I was going out with Grant Davies?" Angelina asked.

"Exactly then," Lucy smirked.

"You're enjoying this," Mason pouted.

"And how did I not know most of this?" Angelina complained.

"Well the point is, nothing's going to happen to the 'group dynamic'," Louis sniggered.

"Besides, Noah had his turn liking Audrey in the first year," Mason added.

"OH MY GOD!" Angelina squealed. " _What if he never stopped?_ Affection that's gone unrequited for five years is _definitely_ dangerous for the group dynamic!"

"Okay first of all, stop saying 'group dynamic', I can't take you seriously when you do. Not that any of us is being able to take you seriously at all," Lucy bit back a laugh. "Second, why are you so sure he fancies her?"

Angelina looked offended, but shook it off. "After the prefect's meeting. James asked Audrey to wait back, and Noah practically blew his lid off."

"I was there too, Ange. You're being dramatic" Mason rolled his eyes. "He was fine."

"He was asking why James had made her stay back!"

"He wasn't, actually, that was me," Mason corrected. "It's all in your head, Angie."

Before Angelina could retort, Louis spoke: "Wait, do _you_ like Audrey then?" he teased Mason.

"From the deepest dungeons of my shackled heart," Mason played along, clutching his chest dramatically.

" _Do you have no regard for the group dynamic?_ " Louis looked shocked and offended.

"Sod off," Mason grinned.

Louis and Lucy burst out laughing, while Angelina turned away, her arms folded, still muttering about 'group dynamic'.

* * *

In another carriage, Leah was narrating the story of the violent book to her audience of four: Lucas was nearly in tears of laughter, Elena was holding onto him to avoid falling off her seat, Noah was clutching his stomach in happy pain, and Audrey was holding his arm and had her face buried into his shoulder.

"But _where_ did that book come from?" Elena asked, out of breath.

"Nobody thought about that! We were all too busy pointing fingers at each other's spell choices!"

"If only Andrew Van de Kamp had been turned into a bird instead, Merlin!" Audrey let out another wave of giggles.

"Oh my god, I wish I'd been there!" Lucas moaned.

"So do I, mate, so do I," Noah clapped him on his shoulder, still laughing.

"Well, what were the rest of you up to, then?" Leah asked.

"I was with Elena and her friends. I met with them right after the prefect's meeting," Lucas frowned. "Wish I hadn't," Elena hit him; he put an arm around her and kissed her cheek.

"After the meeting I left to look for you guys," Audrey nodded at Noah and Leah. "Then I found you and decided to _leave_ that compartment, oh my god!" she cried.

"Actually, after the meeting, you had your own little meeting with James Potter," Noah said, with a slight edge to his voice.

"Oh. Right." Audrey thought back to the meeting.

"What was that about, anyway?" Leah asked.

"Just catching up. We're good friends, you know that," Audrey shrugged.

* * *

 _Earlier, in the prefect's compartment..._

James Potter and Jenna Carstairs, the new Heads, sorted out the schedule for rounds and briefed the prefects on their duties, and a short but fruitful twenty minutes later everybody stood up to file out of the compartment. Noah turned around to pull Audrey out, who had been too busy flirting with Laim Baker - a 7th year Hufflepuff prefect - to realise that all her friends had left, but they were stopped by James Potter: "Can I talk to you for a minute, Harper?"

She rolled her eyes and turned around. "Certainly, _Potter_." She gestured for Noah to go ahead without her, and he irritably stepped out, banging the compartment door shut behind him.

"Couldn't wait, could you, _James_?" Audrey smirked at him.

"It feels weird to use someone's last name after you're on a first name basis with them, doesn't it?" he ignored her question. Flicking his wand to shut the curtains, he set it down next to him and pulled Audrey onto his lap.

She leaned into James, one hand on his chest, the other wound around his neck, and kissed him on the lips. His strong hands circled her tiny waist as he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth. She raked her hands through his hair and down his back, as his wandered roughly up her sides and softly down her front. Her left hand snaked under his shirt and up his torso, which was hot to the touch, and he marked a trail of cold kisses down her chin, sucking hard at the crook of her neck. She tightened her legs around his waist and pushed herself into him as she pulled his lower lip gently between her teeth. His hands found themselves on her thighs, holding her firmly in place on his lap as he kissed her deeply again. He moved his hands up her body and to her wrists, which he held. He slowed down to small kisses on her lips and then leaned back in his seat and looked into her deep blue eyes.

"Well you couldn't wait either, could you?" James grinned.

* * *

 **The next chapter will be up soon. Do leave a review - that's the only way for me to know what you liked and what you didn't. Also if there's any typos you noticed,** ** _please_** **let me know. I've proofread this about ten times but sometimes you just don't notice with your own work. Thank you!**

 **xx**


	2. Veritaserum

**Before starting with the second chapter, I was wondering if anyone caught the reference to Philosopher's Stone in the last one? Let me know!**

* * *

 **VERITASERUM**

"Harper, Audrey!" Professor Flitwick's sharp voice rang out across the hall, and a calm looking girl walked up to the Sorting Hat and sat on the stool. It fell past her glasses and spent almost a minute deliberating, until it decisively announced "SLYTHERIN!"

She exhaled sharply and handed the hat back to Professor Flitwick before prancing off to join the Slytherins, but not without a quick, almost wistful glance at the Gryffindor table. Of course, Lucas was oblivious to these little details - his heart was pounding in his ears, he knew it was almost his turn.

"Hartman, Lucas!" He ran up so fast he tripped, but managed to land right onto the stool. Mustering up whatever courage he had, he grinned at the crowd of students in the Great Hall. Better they laugh _with_ him, right? Perhaps that's why the Sorting Hat was so quick to decide for him. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Lucas grinned and ran to the table furthest on his left - the Gryffindor table. An older boy clapped him on the back and sat him down with the other newly sorted first years, but before he could turn his attention back to the Sorting, it was drawn to the sound of someone sniffling.

Lucas looked in her direction and did a double take - the source of the sound was none other than 'Harper, Audrey' but without glasses. Lucas edged closer to her, confused but concerned.

"Hey, uh, shouldn't you be on the Slytherin table?"

"I SHOULD!" she suddenly screamed and started wailing, drawing quite a bit of attention until Lucas quickly silenced her.

"What's wrong, Angelina?" a female prefect appeared behind them, her hand wrapping comfortingly around the girl's shoulders.

"She's on the wrong ta-" Lucas started but 'Harper, Audrey' cut him off.

"Mysister - gotsorted - into - Slytherin!" she blubbered. "IwannabewithAudrey- in _Slytherin!_ " she finished with a wail.

Lucas smacked his head at his foolishness. _Sisters_ , why hadn't he thought of that? He felt bad for her. Nobody should cry on their first day at Hogwarts. 11 year old Lucas Hartman decided that this girl would not get to be in tears anymore. "Hey! Angelina, is it?"

She nodded, tears still streaming down her face.

"Well Angelina, I'm Lucas. My brother's in Ravenclaw, so I guess you're not alone in feeling alone, huh?" he smiled at her tentatively; she seemed to be listening at least. He went on. "Like it or not, we're Gryffindors now. And Gryffindor is the bravest of all houses! We can't cry if we're supposed to be the bravest, can we?" She shook her head slowly, the tears slowing down. "So what do you say we be alone together, and we do it with _bravery_!" with that he grinned and offered her his hand to shake. She held it and pulled him into a hug. A little overwhelmed, Lucas could sense he was making progress. "So no more crying, okay? Lions don't cry. We roar! _Roar_!" and finally he got a laugh from her. She lifted her head from his shoulder and wiped her face with her robes. Lucas smiled at Angelina.

"Thank you," she smiled back.

The prefect watched them with a smile. " _They're going to be best friends,"_ she was sure of it.

And she was right. Five years later, Lucas was standing at the Gryffindor table with Angelina, clapping and cheering for every first year that got sorted into their house, patting their backs and welcoming them, finding them seats at the table, making sure they were comfortable. Just like their prefects had done for them their first year. And just like he'd said to her back then, Lucas and Angelina had been brave together. Then they'd built their group of friends together. They'd had classes together, skipped classes together, spent holidays together, and become prefects together. But something still bothered Lucas about what he'd said all those years ago. And he suddenly knew what it was.

"Hey, Ange?" he leaned towards her to make himself heard over the din.

"Hmm?"

"Remember what I said to you in first year? How lions don't cry and you gotta be brave and all of that?"

"Every word, and it still blows me away how an 11 year old boy dealt with that whole situation so well."

"What can I say? I've always been wise beyond my years."

"Maybe they should've put you in Ravenclaw with your brother then, Lucas the Wise," Angelina ribbed him.

Lucas laughed. "Well, not really, because I wasn't all that wise. I said you can't cry if you're in the bravest house… I was wrong. I think crying is one of the bravest things you can do."

Angelina raised an eyebrow at him. "Where's all of this coming from?"

Lucas chuckled. "Nothing, I just realised it's almost time for you to start PMSing like a bitch and didn't want you to feel bad about all the ugly crying you're about to d- OW! That hurt!"

"It was supposed to," Angelina rolled her eyes at Lucas's childish pout.

"Are you PMSing alrea- _OW! ANGIE!_ "

"Yeah yeah I love you too," she smiled at him and gestured towards the table. The Sorting was done, and food had appeared. They sat down next to each other - like they had for the last five years - eating together, laughing together, like they would for years to come.

* * *

At the Slytherin table, Noah Bennet was standing with his friend and roommate, Tyler Campbell. And he would not. Shut. Up.

"Look, I'm just saying, if you like her, it's alright. It's just a crush, I'm not going to feel too bad. Or at all really-" Tyler trailed off when Audrey elbowed him unexpectedly.

"Tyler. Hi. Can I borrow my best friend?" she grabbed Noah without waiting for an answer and pulled him a few feet away from the starstruck Tyler.

"Audrey, I'm fine-"

"Don't even bother. Just, I'm here for you, okay? I know you know that, but really, _whenever_ you need me, I'm going to be right here," Audrey looked concerned, her deep blue eyes piercing into his dark brown ones. "Just, don't do anything stupid. Please."

Despite himself, Noah could feel the tears coming. He quickly pulled Audrey into a hug and buried his face in her shoulder. "I promise," he whispered.

"I know you're just hiding your tears, asshole," Audrey whispered through a grin and gave him a tight squeeze before pulling away. " _Whenever_ you need me," she repeated and flounced off to talk to a group of first years.

Noah nodded and smiled at her retreating head, when Tyler appeared at his side.

"That's it, mate. She's yours. Don't worry about it at all, alright? I don't even fancy her anymore. It's gone. Disappeared. It's done." Tyler gave him an awkward thumbs up. "Wait. Are you going out with her? Because if you are, you can tell me. I'm your roommate, man, I'm your-"

"Bye." Noah cut him off, not interested in finding out what else he was to Tyler. He joined Scorpius Malfoy, the fifth year prefect, in his conversation with an excited looking first year, leaving behind a puzzled Tyler.

* * *

"So Ange just kept yelling about 'group dynamic', which was hilarious, but she had a point, I just didn't want to admit it to her. Not about the whole 'group dynamic' and all that, but about Noah maybe fancying Audrey." Mason finished telling Leah about his carriage ride while they waited by the kitchens for the aforementioned Slytherins - rolling joints to pass the time.

Leah wasn't surprised that she hadn't been the only one to notice. "So Noah likes Audrey, big deal. Maybe they'll go out, maybe they won't. But they've been friends long enough to handle this like adults, don't you think?"

Mason suddenly realised the gravity of the situation and set his wand and rolling paper down. "But that exactly is the point! Noah's just been through a terrible breakup -" he shuddered at the memory, "- and his rebound crush is _his best friend_ , his best support system. And he's the possessive type, and she absolutely hates being controlled even a bit. Don't you see how badly things could end up here? I'm worried about our friends."

"They'll be fine, Mase." Leah still looked unconvinced. "I can't believe _you_ are giving so much thought to this drama."

Mason rolled his eyes at her and was about to return to his unfinished joint, when they heard hurried footsteps and loud voices - Noah and Audrey.

"- doesn't mean you can go around being a slag-"

"Oh so now I'm being a _slag_ , I thought I was only being _inappropriate_ -"

"Call it what you want, you can't be doing this-"

"Yes I can and I WILL Noah! You have no right-"

"I have _every_ right, I'm your goddamn best friend-"

"Well, _best friend,_ you're overreacting-"

"So what if I am? I forbid you-"

"Oh you _forbid_ me, do you? Well I forbid you from being a DICK but it's not like that's going to make you stop-"

"At least I'm not hurting anybody-"

" _Neither am I!"_

At this point, the livid pair reached the other two, and the four best friends stood facing each other - Audrey fuming, Noah exasperated, Leah confused, and Mason concerned. He was the first to break the tension.

"So… should we head to the party, then?" he raised his eyebrows at them.

"I'll be there in a while, there's something I need to do," Audrey snapped and stormed off.

" _Get back here_!" Noah started after her, but tripped on his way thanks to a wordless charm from Audrey, who pocketed her wand and gave him the finger before disappearing around a corner.

Seething, Noah kicked the floor and turned to walk in the direction of the stairs, muttering angrily to himself.

Leah and Mason exchanged a worried look before scurrying after him. This was _not_ going to end well.

* * *

By the time Louis and Lucy walked into the party - nearly an hour late, thanks with Lucas and Angelina - it was well underway. The massive Charms classroom had been sparingly lit with floating strobe lights, and loud music by Swish and Flick blared from concealed speakers. Lucy noticed Leah dancing on a desk in one corner with Iris Lloyd - one of Audrey's Slytherin roommates, a pretty girl with long, straight, platinum blonde hair, pale skin, and light green eyes. Angelina ran off to join them, and Louis followed, grabbing a bottle of firewhiskey on his way. Tyler Campbell was making his way around with a tray of shots when he noticed Lucy and Lucas and headed straight to them.

"So what are we drinking today, Campbell?" Lucy took two shot glasses off the levitating tray and handed one to Lucas. It was half filled with a transparent liquid, like water, or…

"Veritaserum! At least that's what we're calling it. It's a pretty strong muggle drink that's said to have a similar effect, if you know what I mean," Tyler winked at Lucy. "It's better known as vodka. Bottoms up!"

The three sixth year's clinked their plastic shot glasses together and gulped the liquid down in one go. It seemed to scorch Lucy's throat as it went down it, but nothing she wasn't used to. Lucas yelped and ran off to join Mason and Noah, who he'd just spotted doing some sort of drunken chicken dance.

"So Tyler, how goes it?" Lucy turned to her only company.

"Well, it goes. I wanted to ask Audrey out this year - you know Audrey? Gorgeous, your year, your best friend- hey wait! She's _your_ best friend too!" Tyler drunkenly beamed at his discovery. "So yeah, I wanted to ask her out, but I guess that isn't happening since Noah's in love with her. But that's okay. What's that thing they say? Bros before hoes? Not that she's a hoe, no way, please don't tell her I said that," he pleaded with his bright brown puppy eyes. Everything about him resembled a puppy, actually. Shaggy brown hair that fell into his eyes, and that unassuming, slightly blank smile.

But Lucy wasn't bothered about any of that, not after what he'd just said. No, not the 'hoes' part. "Noah's in love with her? What makes you think so?" she inquired.

"I dunno, he kind of got mad at me when I asked him if I could ask her out, and then she came and hugged him, and then he walked away from me… and I want another shot! Do you want another shot?" he handed one to Lucy without waiting for a reply.

She gulped it down with him. "How many have you had by now anyway?"

"This," Tyler said, gulping another, "was my sixth." With a victorious whoop and jump, Tyler scampered off to join the boys, forgetting the tray of shots still levitating next to Lucy.

Right then, Angelina quite literally flew into her, like she'd leapt from the table and landed right on her. "LUCY GOOSEEYYYYYY!"

Lucy pushed the brunette off herself and into Louis, who caught her. "What the hell is a Lucy Goosey?"

"Don't you like it, Lucy Goosey? It's my new name for you! _Luuu-cy! Gooo-sey!_ " Angelina giggled.

Before Lucy could react, she was spun around to face a somber looking Leah.

"Listen, buddy, do you see Harry Prewett anywhere?" Behind Leah, Iris frantically shook her head 'no' at Lucy, who played along.

"Don't think I have, Lee, why do you ask?"

"Because," Leah leaned closer conspiratorially, "I _really_ want," she whispered, "to FUCK him!"

"What the _fucking-_ "

"Yes! Fuck! I want to FUCK Harry Prewett! I want to SHAG the living daylights out of him! I want to BONE him! I want to BLOW him!"

"I am _so_ not drunk enough for this," Lucy mumbled to herself.

"Then keep up, bitch," Audrey appeared behind her, chestnut curls a fair bit of a mess. She handed one shot glass from the tray to each of the others, then took two for herself, which she drained in quick succession.

"Audrey, I want to do it with Harry Prewett!" Leah exclaimed. "I want to BLOW him _so_ bad-"

"Have you ever blown anybody, Leah?" Audrey interrupted, amused.

"No, but I WILL blow him!" Leah had decided.

"Do it with Harry Prewett!" Angelina suddenly exclaimed, noticing the rhyme. " _Do it with Harry Prewett!"_

This sent Iris into a fit of giggles that Lucy found herself joining - the alcohol seemed to finally have taken its effect. "Louis, where's the bottle of firewhiskey you had?"

"Right… here!" he accio'd it out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Lucy took a big sip and passed it to Iris, who took a quick gulp and passed it to Audrey, who emptied the bottle of its contents. "What? I reached late, gotta catch up," Audrey shrugged at the others.

" _DO IT WITH PREWETT!"_ Angelina and Leah were screaming together now, arms linked, stumbling all over each other. Lucy would've been concerned, but she'd gone off with Iris by then to join the boys, who seemed to have graduated to _actual_ dancing. Louis and Audrey shared an amused smile.

Leah suddenly passed a shot to each of them. "TO DOING IT WITH PREWETT!" she screeched with Angelina.

"I don't think either of you should-" Louis started, but was cut off by the two downing their shots, followed by Angelina falling into his arms and starting to heave.

"CoGo?" Audrey suggested, holding her shot glass up.

"CoGo," Louis agreed. Each swallowed the fiery liquid and headed towards the nearest door, Angelina being supported by Louis, and Leah holding Audrey's hand, whooping.

* * *

Louis sighed loudly and collapsed onto one of the beds. The Come and Go room, codenamed 'CoGo', had presented them with a large room he'd gotten quite used to seeing over their fifth year. It was equipped with a floor to ceiling, fully stocked medical cabinet, four walled off toilets with excellent plumbing, a walled off shower stall, a curtained space for privacy, a closet with fresh towels and pyjamas, another with magic and muggle cards and games, a small sink and a shelf next to it that held toothbrushes and paste, a kitchenette, a refrigerator with soda and cola and juices - and Louis's personal favourite, the beds. Depending on what they asked for while entering and how many of them there were, CoGo produced the appropriate number of beds, and resized the room accordingly, though that was the only thing that ever changed. There were four beds this time. Like always, one of the beds against a wall had a replica of Audrey's blanket from home, and Louis had wrapped himself in it. Angelina was passed out on the bed to his left, and Audrey was helping Leah change into clean clothes behind the curtain. Louis closed his eyes for a minute, but discovered that he'd fallen asleep when Audrey jumped on him to wake him up.

"Get out of my blanket, asshole! I'm not done partying."

"You barely started partying," Louis sleepily murmured.

"Exactly, so get up! Don't leave me like this, Lou," Audrey pleaded in her baby voice, a tactic she only employed under the influence.

He gave in and pushed himself up, crossing his legs to sit next to her. "It still amazes me how well you handle drunk people when you're almost as drunk as they are."

"I don't know. I can feel myself stumbling and hazy, but I still manage to take care of them. I guess it's just muscle memory at this point," she laughed, referring to the several times they'd come to this room last year, when they'd discovered drinking and needed somewhere to go to take care of the drunk ones - or to continue the party. Audrey usually drank the most in the group, and Louis admired how rather than becoming a mess, she was the most easygoing drunk of them all, and certainly the most efficient. The comfortably asleep Leah and Angelina were proof.

"So what do you suggest we do, party girl?" Louis teased.

She hit him with a pillow. "Well, how drunk are you? Scale of one to ten?"

"Um… four, I guess?" Louis shrugged. "The nap sobered me up a fair bit."

Audrey groaned and hit him again. "Shouldn't have taken a nap then, _asshole_. I'm at seven, and I need company.

Louis gestured for her to wait and strode across the room to the medical cabinet. He undid a concealment charm in the bottom right corner, revealing some half empty bottles of liquor. He selected a nearly full bottle of sherry and redid the charm.

Audrey jumped up and hugged Louis. "You're officially my favourite person in the room right now."

"I'm the only conscious person in the room except you right now," he laughed.

"Exactly, and you still win that title over me. At least until this bottle is over," she winked at him took a swig to inaugurate the bottle. "Drinking game?"

"Better idea: regular game, loser drinks."

"Well that's a nice way to get all the sherry for yourself."

"Hah! In your dreams, Harper. And even if that were true, don't you want company?"

"Good point. Rock paper scissors?"

" _What?_ "

"Do you want to get drunk quickly or not?"

"You're on!" Louis laughed.

" _Accio_!" Audrey pointed her wand at the games closet, and some parchment and a quill shot out of it and into her free hand. She positioned the quill on the parchment and let go of it, where it stood ready to make notes. "To keep track of the wins," she explained.

Louis shook his head and smiled. "Always competitive," he teased.

"Bite me, blondie," she shot back. "Ready?"

Louis and Audrey turned to properly face each other, kohl rimmed blue eyes narrowed menacingly at crinkling light brown, and together they shrieked - "ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!"

They launched into a blur of yelling, violent hand waving, and drinking. It was a testament to the amount of alcohol their sleeping companions had consumed that they didn't wake up at Louis and Audrey's screams of "HAH! Drink!", "Suck it, bitch!", "Fuck you!", "Bloody hell!", "Louis is a lo-ser!", and "Audrey is an ass-hole!", among other general yelps and cheers. About ten minutes and half a bottle of sherry later, the two fell onto the bed, clutching their stomachs in uncontrollable laughter.

"You're _really_ bad at this game," Audrey laughed.

"Am not!" Louis protested.

"Well then I'm just really good," Audrey grinned.

"How can anyone be _good_ at a game like Rock Paper Scissors?"

"How can anyone be so _bad_ , is what you should be asking yourself!" Audrey teased, earning a whack on the head with a pillow from Louis. She wrestled the pillow out of his hands and sat on top of him, laughing and smacking his head repeatedly.

"Ow! Alright- ow! Fine you- OW! Win! Audrey you WIN!" Louis sighed with relief when she threw the pillow away and looked up at her - messy hair, black smudged around her eyes, and a triumphant expression of glee that lit up her whole face. "You're pretty," he said sincerely.

Audrey burst out laughing and climbed off him, lying down next to him. "You're drunk."

"You're still pretty," he grinned. "And you wanted company, didn't you?"

"That I did."

"And am I drunk enough for you now, my lady?"

"You certainly are, kind sir."

"Well then, what do we do with ourselves in my newly achieved inebriated state?"

"We sleep."

"Wait, what?" Louis sat up. "I thought you weren't done partying!"

"I am _now_. Let's sleep!" she tried to pull him down.

"But I got drunk for you!"

"And that's very nice of you, but I'm sleepy."

"And I'm drunk!"

"Then drunkenly sing me to sleep," Audrey tried to suppress a smile.

"No way! You know I don't sing unless I'm drunk!"

"And didn't you just say you were?"

"Fine, let's sleep." Louis got into bed next to her, defeated. "You're pretty, but you're mean," he muttered.

"Say that again and I'll stop sharing the blanket with you," Audrey sleepily threatened. She extinguished the lights with her wand and put her head on Louis's arm.

"Fine, you're not pretty," he whispered.

Audrey chuckled and closed her eyes. "How drunk do you have to be to sing?" she asked.

"A ten," Louis smiled.

"Maybe next time," she murmured, snuggling closer to him. He adjusted the blanket to cover both of them, and before either of them knew it, they were sound asleep.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! You know what to do.**

 **xx**


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